Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey’s new show DRAGONS is in So Cal now! That’s right! I am so excited about seeing this show I can hardly stand it! I love being amused and entertained and Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey sure now how to do both!
I want to remind you all that with every ticket purchased, circus goers have the opportunity to enjoy 2 amazing special pre show events for FREE:

The Animal open house is available at the Ontario Business Bank Arena and Honda Center shows. It starts 90 minutes prior to each show and allows us the chance to see the gorgeous circus animals up close and personal. It’s like going to the zoo but for free!
And my personal favorite:
The All Access Pre-Show located on the circus arena floor starts one hour before the main event. During the All Access Pre-Show families are welcome to participate in super fun hands-on experiences like juggling and balancing, meet the performing clowns, get performer autographs and my favorite: see one of Ringling Bros. amazing Asian elephant’s paint a one-of-a-kind masterpiece! Hello? How could you pass that up?

Credit: Ringling

Tickets on sale now for “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey all new show: Dragons. You can’t miss this opportunity to take your kids to something that will dazzle and amuse them.
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800-745-3000 or by visiting the venue box office.

What the best new yet? You my fabulous, Sarcastic, Funny and Brutally Honest readers have the opportunity to save money on your Ringling Bros. and Branum & Bailey DRAGONS tickets!
That’s right! Just use the code “MOM” for a ticket discount! The discount is valid now until August 5th.

.

This is not a compensated post. I will receive complimentary tickets to one of the shows and I am very excited about taking my daughter to the circus for the first time.

Yesterday, as my oldest son and I were on our way to Los Angeles we drove past Forest Lawn Memorial Park. It had been a few years since I had driven past it and I had forgotten how beautiful it was. So I pointed it out for him to see.
And then he asked me what it was.
And I was left there with the decision of what to say. I mean, how do you explain a cemetery to a little kid after all? I decided to go in for the kill.

“When people die, their souls go to Heaven to be with God and their bodies stay here with us. Some people like to bury their bodies in the ground at a place like that so that we who are left here on Earth have a place to visit them. But they’re not really there, only their bodies are because their souls are with God”.

I patted myself on the back. I thought I did pretty good explaining souls and death and cemeteries and stuff to a 5 year old. And then he said:“I like trees!”

And I realized at that moment that parenting is a lot like throwing pennies in a wishing well. You can’t see where the penny went but you did hear that hollow thud when it hit the water.
Here I was giving him gems of gold, pure parenting advice gold and all he had to say was that he liked trees.

All I can do is have faith that the penny I threw is in there somewhere.

Being a busy mom of 3 kids 5 and under means that I find all means necessary to keep my house and my life as organized as possible; well, being an extreme “Type A” personality doesn’t help much either. To know me, is to know that I am extremely organized, so much so that if a friend were to describe me, “organized” would be one of the top 3 descriptors. The more control I have over my house the better I feel. Being organized makes things easily accessible and thus makes my life easier. Therefore, I am always on the lookout for products that help with organization. Recently, I was contacted by the fine folks at PRK Products, Inc to try out 2 of their handy dandy baby products: the universal baby bottle and sippy cup organizer and the universal baby food jar organizer.

The PRK Products were designed by a busy mother of triplets out of necessity, so you know they are as useful as useful can possibly be. Both the universal baby bottle and sippy cup organizer and the universal baby food jar organizer are dishwasher safe, BPA & Phthalate Free and can be stored in the cupboard, freezer or refrigerator.

Before

After: I have my counters back!

The universal baby bottle and sippy cup organizer is a wonderful product that grows with you; first as a bottle organizer and then as a sippy cup organizer when your child is done with bottles. What I appreciated most about this product was that it was able to adjust in size to accommodate my various sizes of bottles and sippy cups as not only do I have a newborn with small baby bottles but a toddler with sippy cups. The only disadvantage I found about the baby bottle and sippy cup organizer was that it did not fit into my munchkin sized shelves, but as the problem solver that I am, I moved around a few things and placed the baby bottle and sippy cup organizer in the food pantry instead. The organizer can be loaded from the back and is able to hold up to 12 baby bottles. The included storage basket was a fabulous place to store all of the bottle nipples and extra binkies.

The baby bottle organizer in the food pantry

The universal baby food jar organizer is my new favorite baby product on Earth. As I do make the majority of my children’s baby food when they start on solid foods, I love that this food jar organizer can go into the refrigerator. Then, when I purchase baby food jars I can put the baby food jar organizer in the cupboard and still keep everything neat and tidy. The shelf on top is super handy in space saving too. The baby food organizer comes with 2 different sizes of sides that can be stored underneath when not in use. That way, this organizer can be used with all 3 stages of standard baby food jars.

The Universal Baby Food Jar Organizer

The Universal Baby Bottle & Sippy Cup Organizer

So now that you’ve fallen in love with these products, I know you need to know where to purchase them!

You can learn more about PRK Products Inc. here.
and
on Facebook
on TwitterAnd you can purchase PRK Products on Amazon today!

.
This is not a compensated post. I received PRK Products to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own, and I know you think my opinions are awesome.

Every once in a great while an artist emerges that has the ability to capture our hearts along with our imagination; with childlike wonder, technical skill and plenty of whimsy, British born artist James Hance is creating magic with his original star wars inspired artwork. To own a piece of James Hance work is to own a piece of your geeky childhood but with a new twist.

James Hance calls his original artwork “Relentlessly Cheerful Art”, which let me tell you, it truly is. I cannot express to you enough how much I love his quirky creativity and his sense of whimsy. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to review his work and I squealed like a school girl and jumped at the opportunity.I chose 3 prints, 1 for each of my kids. ‘Little Rebels’ for my daughter, ‘A Most Bold Adventure’ for my youngest son and ‘The Dark Starry Knight’ for my oldest son. I adore them and I cannot wait to frame them to put them in each of their bedrooms.

Not only is the very talented James Hance artistically gifted, he also knows how to write adorable, endearing stories. “Wookie the Chew – The House At Chew Corner” is an adorable tale about Wookie the Chew whom is inspired by A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh and his quest for bobaberries (instead of honey).

My very favorite part of the book is when Wookie the Chew was chased by flyfighters (instead of bees) after disturbing their hive in the giant tree (pictured on the left). This book is adorable and something your children will love. My son adores this story and can easily identify the similarities and quirky differences between Wookie the Chew and Winnie the Pooh.

To see the entire line of James Hance art prints, limited edition prints, Originals and even t-shirts log on here.

What’s the best yet? YOU (yeah! you!) have the chance to win (5) Five James Hance prints of your very own! Yes! Five!! Not only that, you will also receive your very own copy of the book “Wookie the Chew – The House At Chew Corner” Written & Illustrated by James Hance .

Giveaway To enter to win (5) Five James Hance art prints and a copy of the book “Wookie the Chew – The House At Chew Corner”:
Please log on HERE and leave a comment on this post below with your favorite (5) Five prints. This giveaway is open until 7/13/2012 11:59 PST. One winner will be chosen at random using random.org and will be notified via email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and awarded to someone else. Giveaway open to U.S. Residents only.

For additional entries you can: Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry

1. “Like” Art & Things & That By James Hance on Facebook. Let me know you did this by saying so in the comments section. Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

2. Follow James Hance on Twitter. Let me know you did this by saying so in the comments section. Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

3. Follow Desiree Eaglin on Twitter. You won’t regret it. Let me know you did this by saying so in the comments section. Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

.

This is not a compensated post. I was honored to accept James Hance prints for review purposes and a copy of the book Wookie the Chew-The House At Chew Corner. All opinions are my own and I know you think my opinions are awesome.

Quietly tucked within the center of the Temecula wine country is the Temecula Berry Company, a 10-acre farm that has stood the test of time and stayed true to a simpler set of values that the fast-paced technology-ridden present has forgotten. The family owned and operated farm grows only blueberries and is open…
To Continue Reading Please Log on Here.

Disney has the ability to entertain and to teach our children great lessons. Just moments ago I heard Jungle Junction teaching my kids this message:

“We can do it. We can do it if we try. If it doesn’t work the first time we’ll try twice as hard the next time. Cause we can do it if we try.”

The truth is, I don’t agree 100%.

About 10 years ago I was watching a day time talk show of a celebrity interview (I can’t remember who the celebrity was) and she said this:

“When I’m trying really hard to do something and it’s just not working I stop trying. I take that obstruction to be a sign from the universe that it just wasn’t meant to be”.

That statement hit a home run with me. So much so, that now if I’m trying to open a jar of pickles and it just won’t open…I take that as a sign to not eat pickles.
I’m not saying I’ve become a complete non-committal flake. I’m saying that sometimes some things just weren’t meant to be. Life shouldn’t be so hard and so frustrating. And honestly, I really don’t need to eat pickles.

The obvious problem now is how do I teach my children the ideals of perseverance when I don’t believe in them in all situations myself?
I’ve found myself teaching my son to stop trying something when he gets frustrated. I know that I’m trying to teach him to not allow himself to get so frustrated by taking a break. Nothing is worth getting so frustrated over and we can control our emotions by removing the cantankerous variable.
However, I’m afraid that I’m not teaching him how to preservere enough. I’m afraid I’m raising a non-committal flake. I want my children to be hard workers that don’t give up. I want them to be successful and I know that success takes commitment. I want them to understand the difference between knowing what’s worth fighting for and what isn’t.

However, when they hit a bump on the road to success, how will they know if it’s a sign to choose a different direction? And how will they know if the bump is just a bump and they can keep going forward?

Or what if they’re in a relationship with someone and it’s not going so great. How will they know if that relationship is worth working on to keep it going?

What if they’re trying and trying and trying to be good at something and it’s just not happening. When will they know to stop trying so hard to be good at whatever it was and try something else instead?

Or what if they’re trying to make a sandwhich and they’d really like pickles but they can’t open the jar? Will they keep trying to open the jar even if it takes forever and the bread goes stale in the wait?

How do I teach my children which situations are worth fighting for and which situations are not?

side note: I’ve never purchased a jar of pickles. That was merely an example.

Celebrate our Independence from the Brits in true Southern California family style. From family friendly parades, muscled and tanned men and women competing at the beach to fireworks spectaculars you’ll find the best family friendly 4th of July events listed below.

This post is about the difference between him and I.
I am frugal and tactful.
He is wasteful and afraid of getting poop on his hands.

Changing diapers requires wipes. Wipes are expensive and kind of bad for the planet. I have honed my baby diaper changing skills to use as little wipes as humanely possible. One wipe for #1 and Two wipes for #2.

This is me changing a poopy diaper:

My husband? Not so honed in on the baby diaper changing skills as I. And he’s dealthy afraid of getting poop on his hands. As if the poop would make his precious little man hands skin melt.

This is my husband changing a poopy diaper:

Which to be honest, he didn’t do much of before baby Eaglin #3 was born. I could probably count on one hand how many poopy diapers he changed throughout the years. Thankfully he got the memo that he was required to step it up a notch with baby #3’s arrival. However, watching him change a poopy diaper will probably never get old. He would probably wear a hazmat suit if he could. And use salad tongs…so he would be certain to not get any poop on his precious little man hands.